Mumbai, Sept. 19 -- Over 180,000 doctors in Maharashtra associated with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors' (MARD) central unit, the Association of Medical Consultants (AMC) and several other bodies observed a 24-hour strike starting 8am on Thursday, affecting OPD services, routine procedures and elective surgeries in multiple government and private hospitals across the state. Even emergency care was halted at some private hospitals in Mumbai, with patients being redirected to government hospitals. Doctors also participated in marches and symbolic protests at Thane, Mumbai, Aurangabad, and Pune as part of the 24-hour strike. The strike was observed as a mark of protest against the state government's decision to allow homeopaths who have undergone the Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP) to register under the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC). The government had, on September 5, issued a circular permitting registration of CCMP-qualified homeopathic doctors under the MMC, after withdrawing a similar notification on July 11 following IMA's threat of an agitation. "We want the government to immediately withdraw this circular. Homeopathy practitioners already have their own council while the MMC is meant for MBBS doctors. The government's decision dilutes medical standards and compromises patient safety," said Dr Santosh Kadam, president, IMA Maharashtra. If the government did not address their demands within seven days, they will think of further action, he said. "CCMP is just a year-long course. Allowing CCMP-trained homeopaths to register under the MMC is a compromise on quality. There are enough allopathic doctors to serve rural areas. This dilution is unnecessary," said Dr Swapnil Kendre, general secretary, central MARD. With the central MARD and the Maharashtra Senior Resident Doctors Association (MSRDA) participating in the strike, nearly 15,000 resident doctors across 28 government medical colleges were off duty on Thursday, disrupting surgeries and OPD clinics. At hospitals under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), services were largely unaffected, though doctors wore black ribbons to express solidarity with their colleagues on strike. "It must be noted that the issue is currently subjudice, and the final decision of the Bombay High Court is still awaited. Granting registration before the court's verdict is legally untenable and amounts to contempt of court," the IMA said in a statement. Dr Rajeev Agarwal, president, AMC Mumbai chapter, said, "Mumbai alone has 16,000-17,000 consultants, each seeing 25 patients daily. So, nearly 500,000 patients could not access their doctors today. To ensure patient welfare, we will extend OPDs tomorrow so no one suffers." Several government hospitals reported higher emergency loads due to the strike. "The footfall in our casualty unit was far higher than usual," said a senior doctor at the Jogeshwari Trauma Centre. "Patients were redirected here as private hospitals had shut emergency care. We managed somehow, though our teams were stretched." Dheeraj Kumar, secretary of the state medical education and drugs department, said they had held a meeting with the IMA and other bodies on Wednesday and requested them not to go on strike. "We told them that the circular is not final and is subject to final orders from the high court. But still, they went ahead with a one day token strike today," said Kumar....